WORCESTER Athletic Club's Ben Clarke is celebrating a triple medal haul.

The Malvern ace won a BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) gold medal in the decathlon.

He also claimed silver at the England Athletics Combined Events Championships in Bedford for the under 23 age group and Midlands gold.

Clarke did the senior men’s decathlon involving the 100 metres (11.05 seconds), long jump (6.68m), shot put (11.41m personal best), high jump (1.9m), 400m (49.92), 110m hurdles (15.39 PB), discus (32.30m), pole vault (3.76m), javelin (41.01m PB) and 1,500m (4.20.59).

The ex-Chase School pupil scored a PB of 6,819 points for eighth senior man, second under 23, regional gold and the BUCS title.

A philosophy student at the University of Sheffield, Clarke is coached in South Yorkshire by Mike Corden.

He said: “This was a good solid start to the season in spite of the challenging conditions in some events.

“My target was 6,800 points and I am especially pleased with my 100m, shot and hurdles performances.

“Placing second on the under 23 rankings puts me in a great position to be considered for the England team at the Home Counties International later this summer.

"It was an added bonus to share the BUCS podium with two of my Sheffield university team-mates.”

Deirdre Elmhirst, the high jump coach at Worcester who was in Bedford to support Clarke, said “Despite being in the middle of his university exams, Ben performed to a high standard and achieved lifetime bests in four of the 10 events.

“This is a well-deserved reward for his hard training week in week out.

“I continue to be impressed by Ben’s dedication and achievements and am proud to play a small part by helping him with his high jump.”